Doug Grow: An Independence Day of a different sort Doug Grow, Star Tribune November 25, 2004 Since this is public radio we're dealing with, the language is understated. But don't be confused. Small public stations are in a fight for survival against mighty Minnesota Public Radio, which will be looking for new stations to conquer and new funding to suck up now that it has concluded the $10.5 million purchase of WCAL/KMSE from St. Olaf College. The 12 public stations remaining in Minnesota outside MPR control are trying to form their own identity. The Little 12 now call themselves Independent Public Radio (IPR). They figure IPR is a tad catchier, marketing-wise, than the Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations (AMPERS) label that the stations used in the past to describe their loose association. With the shadow of MPR looming over them, they're tightening their relationship. "The second-largest public radio network in the state of Minnesota," the IPR members dryly proclaim. The mighty -- in spirit -- operate on a total budget of about $3 million. MPR, with more than 30 stations in Minnesota alone, operates on a budget of $54 million. IPR has declared Saturday as "Independence Day," and it will have fundraising events at various Twin Cities bars Saturday night. In the future, they plan to do more joint fundraising and marketing. Most of the people running these stations are just too public radio-ish to say anything bad about MPR. In fact, the people who run the Little 12 -- four of which are in the Twin Cities, the rest sprinkled across the state -- tend to say kind things about public radio's answer to Wal-Mart. "MPR does a wonderful job on state, national and international issues," said Debbie Benedict, who saw MPR move into Grand Marais a year after she and others opened the doors to WTIP-FM in 1998. "But we fill an important niche." Benedict speaks kindly even though that MPR move cost WTIP a grant of about $15,000 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. WTIP had received that grant -- massive by the station's standards -- because it had been the only public radio station serving the region. "It was, um, unfortunate for us," said Benedict of the MPR move. The big issue for the Little 12 -- which would have been the Little 13, had WCAL not been swallowed -- is identity. MPR has become so massive that many in Minnesota have come to believe that it is public radio. That makes the struggle for memberships and dollars all the more difficult. "I even have relatives who think MPR is public radio," Benedict said. But it's corporate public radio. IPR is small, funky and extremely local public radio. WTIP, in a massive county with only 5,000 people, provides such un-MPR services as broadcasting of local high school football and basketball games. Local people discuss the issues of the region on WTIP air. The 45 volunteers who keep the station going 24 hours a day provide an eclectic selection of music. Its signal can be heard along the North Shore and from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This is the same sort of truly public radio that another member of the Little 12, KFAI, offers in an entirely different setting. KFAI, in the heart of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis, provides programming in a vast array of languages and music from many cultures. Janis Lane-Ewart, general manager of KFAI, is excited about the potential of the Little 12 working closely together. At some point, she even dreams of the IPR stations forming a localized news network. But right now the issue is getting the word out that public radio in Minnesota is more than monster MPR. She fears the same consolidation of media that's happening at the national level could happen in the neighborhoods as well. "We have to use our collective strength to coexist with them financially," she said. _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
